Tag Archives: t-55

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia joined NATO’s North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1992, joining NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1994. But, it was not until 2015 that Armenia was officially certified to take part in NATO ‘peacekeeping’ operations.

Incomplete list of armored ground vehicles.

BMP-1:

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 03APR2020.

BMP-2:

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 24SEP2020.

M939, 5-tons truck with armored cab:

Mostly silent U.S. Army video from May 2006, Armenian military Engineers operating out of Camp Delta, Iraq, using armored cab M939s:

MTLB 9K35 Strela-10:

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 21MAY2020.

T-55:

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 08DEC2021.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 22SEP2020.

T-55 and T-72, 25JUN2020.

T-72:

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 07AUG2021.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 27MAY2021.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 14MAY2021.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 04MAY2021.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 15SEP2020.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 22JUN2020.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 22MAY2020.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 04AUG2019.

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 06AUG2018.

TOS-1A:

Armenia Defense Ministry photo, 17DEC2021.

ZSU-23-4:

Captured by Azerbaijan, December 2020.

Vehicle I-D: EGYPTIAN ARMOR درع المصري

SOVIET ERA ARMOR USED BY NATO BULGARIA, PLUS THE BULGARIAN BMP-23

Technology

How to use C-4 & Thermite to kill a Zombie Tank

Image November 29, 2022 Hutchins AAron

Yes, Virginia, steel will burn!

A captured Serbian T-55 awaits destruction by C-4 ‘plastic’ explosives, and thermite grenades, in the field artillery area of Camp Dobol, Bosnia & Herzegovina. U.S. Army (USA) photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

Planks of C-4 plastic explosive duct-taped to the turret ring, just wanted to see what would happen. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

C-4 was placed inside the turret. The next day, Thermite was placed in the barrel, engine, and transmission. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

Boom! USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

Apparently, the C-4 plastic in the turret was set-off first. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

A U.S. Army First Lieutenant tries to extinguish flames caused by the C-4 explosions, so they can try-out the Thermite. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

Is it safe to install the Thermite? USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

Thermite grenades placed on the ‘powerpack’ (motor/transmission), then mud was packed on top in the hopes it would direct the thermite plasma downward. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 16MAR1997.

The Thermite was set-off next. In the foreground you can see the hands operating an electrical blasting/firing device. You can see the electrical cord leading into the main gun barrel, to set-off the Thermite. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, photo is dated 16MAR1997.

A blurred knife in the foreground. Engineers used the knife to attach the electrical cord to the firing device. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 16MAR1997.

Checking-out the damage. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 16MAR1997.

2-thousand-200 degrees (F) of heat that oozed out of the thermite hand grenades onto the transmission. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 16MAR1997.

End result. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 16MAR1997.

Vehicle I-D: COLD WAR ZOMBIE TANK T-54/55, THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!

Peacekeeper ’95: Remember when Russia invaded the U.S., in preparation to invade Bosnia-Herzegovina?

Technology

Cold War Battle Damage: Steel Infernos of Desert Storm

Image November 28, 2022 Hutchins AAron

Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).

Operation Desert Storm, 17JAN1991–28FEB1991

Just a smattering of armor destruction from Desert Storm:

A shot-up Iraqi Faun Herkules, hauling a ZSU-23-4, failed at trying to escape Kuwait via the Basra-Kuwait Highway. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Holmes, 28JAN1991.

Iraq used a lot of Soviet and Chinese armored ground vehicles, including both the T-55 and Type 69-2. The Chinese Type 69 series is the result of combining hull parts of a T-62 and a T-54, then adding an infrared spotlight and laser range finder over the main gun mantlet, and headlight groups on the both fenders. The Type 69 retained the roof mounted ventilator of the T-54. Early versions of the Type 69 series did not have the turret mounted stowage racks, which were actually a stand-off armor design that doubled as stowage racks. The main gun of the Type 69-1 was a Chinese designed 100mm with smooth-bore (bore evacuators on the guns varied in their position), the Type 69-2 has a 100mm rifled bore. The Type 69-2 had fender skirts, but it seems that most of the Iraqi Type 69s did not use the skirts.

Destroyed Chinese made Iraqi Type 69 (indicated by the T-62 style rear end) inside Kuwait. Photographer unknown, photo dated 01FEB1991.

This shows the squared-off butt of a Soviet built T-55. Photographer unknown, dated 01FEB1991.

This appears to be a T-55 with skirts. No evidence of turret top ventilator, no laser ranger, no stand-off/stowage racks. The Iraqis did modify their vehicles. Photographer unknown, dated 01FEB1991.

A Chinese built Iraqi Type 69-2 (note ventilator on turret roof and remains of stowage rack/stand-off armor, barely visible is evidence of fender mounted light groups), charred by an air strike. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Elliot, 07FEB1991.

The remains of an MTLB(?) on a highway south of Kuwait City. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Kit Thompson, 27FEB1991.

Photo dated 28FEB1991, an Iraqi tank explodes after an attack by the First United Kingdom Armoured Division. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Holmes.

Photo dated 28FEB1991, a Type 69 burns after an attack by the First United Kingdom Armoured Division. Photographer unknown.

One tank was trying to tow the other out of Kuwait, when they were both hit. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, 28FEB1991.

Same T-55 tanks, different angle. Turret has no roof ventilator, and has the single T-55 headlight group on the front slope. The ‘ring’ sticking out of the ground behind the T-55 is the mount for the 12.7mm heavy machine gun. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, 28FEB1991.

Iraqi T-72 in Kuwait. Destroyed or abandoned? U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sergeant J.R. Ruark, 01MAR1991.

Bullet hole to an Iraqi T-55, Jalibah Airfield, Kuwait. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Otero, 02MAR1991.

Type 69 destroyed by the French Sixth Light Armored Division. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Dean Wagner, 02MAR1991.

This T-55 died on Al Mutla Pass, north of Kuwait City. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Perry Heimer, 02MAR1991.

Same T-55 still on Al Mutla Pass, more than one month later, covered by graffiti. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Joe Coleman, 18APR1991.

Stopping to check out a burned-out T-72. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Dean Wagner, 03MAR1991.

Just outside Kuwait City, a T-55 failed to escape on the Basra-Kuwait Highway. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Bill Mohl, 04MAR1991.

Same tank, different angle. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Bill Mohl, 4MAR1991.

A line of destroyed armor, Euphrates River Valley, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Dean Wagner, 04MAR1991.

A destroyed BMP-1 and what is left of a T-72, Euphrates River Valley, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Dean Wagner, 04MAR1991.

Chinese made YW-531 (Type 63 family) followed by a Soviet made MTLB, Euphrates River Valley. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Dean Wagner, 04MAR1991.

What happened to the main gun? U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, 04MAR1991

The rear end indicates this is a Chinese Type 69 flipped on top of a U.S. made Chevy van. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Billings, 06MAR1991.

MTLB, U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Billings, 06MAR1991.

Iraqi T-55, indicated by single headlight group on front slope. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, 27MAR1991.

A Chinese made Iraqi Type 69 (note laser ranger on the mantlet, turret-top ventilator, but no stand-off armor/stowage racks, has the fender mounted light groups) and a Chinese made YW-701 (Type 63 family) Command Post. The Type 69 was towing the YW-701 when they were both hit. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, 27MAR1991

T-72 with dozer blade. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, 27MAR1991.

Iraqi T-72 near Ali Al Salem Air Base. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Joe Coleman, 18APR1991.

A big bullet hole (probably a SABOT) in an Iraqi T-72. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Joe Coleman, 18APR1991.

Iraqi T-62 near Ali Al Salem Air Base. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Joe Coleman, 18APR1991.

Same T-62, from behind. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Joe Coleman, 18APR1991.

Cold War Battle Damage: ALL HAIL THE HAIL BUSTER! WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FLY YOUR C-130E THROUGH A HAILSTORM?

USS TRIPOLI LPH-10 DESERT STORM

THE HIND-END OF DESERT STORM

STEEL SKELETONS OF SOVIET AFGHANISTAN

Iraq 2003: ARMOR BATTLE DAMAGE (Déjà vu)

October 2008: IRAQI T-72, LIVE FIRE BESMAYA GUNNERY RANGE

March 2011: U.S. ARMY BLOWS-UP BRITISH MADE IRANIAN CHIEFTAIN IN IRAQ!

Cold War to Ukraine Crisis: M1117, GUARDIAN OF SECURITY OR A FRANKENSTEIN?

Vehicle I-D: COLD WAR ZOMBIE TANK T-54/55, THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!

International, Technology

Vehicle I-D: Armură România

Video January 21, 2021 Hutchins AAron

Former Soviet Bloc member Romania became a member of NATO in 2004.

One of the first operations as a member of NATO was to deploy troops to Iraq in 2007. Video of Romanian TAB-B33 Zimbru (Romanian built BTR-80) heading out for patrol in Iraq, April 2007:

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Brendan Stephens, 15OCT2008.

In 2008, Romanian troops operated U.S. made armored HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), as well as their BTR-80s (aka TAB-B33 Zimbru [Aurochs, or wild cattle]) while patrolling outside the city of Nasariyah, Iraq.

Camp Dracula, Dhi Qar, Iraq, 01DEC2008. USA photo by Specialist Donte Baltimore.

Since July 2006, Romanian troops have also been working alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan. U.S. Army video from 16OCT2010, showing Romanians training for deployment to Afghanistan:

U.S. Army (USA) video report from 2009, revealing that the U.S. Army has expanded into Romania:

The UROVESA VAMTac (Vehículo de Alta Movilidad Táctico) looks like a U.S. HMMWV, but it is actually made in NATO-Spain.

Tennessee Army National Guard learns to shoot the Cold War era Soviet 12.7mm heavy machine gun on the Babadag Training Area, Romania, 13AUG2009. Photo by Sergeant Marla Keown.

Live prep & fire video, by Sergeant Ellis McDaniels, TR-85M1 Bizonul (The Bison) invade Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 2014:

TR-85M1 blasting away on Grafenwoehr, Germany, 13JUN2014. USA photo by Captain Sandra Stover.

Romanian Armed Forces video of tank live-fire, from point of view of the top of the turret: https://fb.watch/3b_7nPPEy8/

Romanian MLI-84M on Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, 27JUN2014. USA photo by Gertrud Zach.

A modified BMP, the Romanian MLI-84M Jder (Marten), in Germany, 2014.

In 2015, the U.S. issued MRAPs to Romanian troops operating in Kandahar, Afghanistan. USA photo, 02MAR2015.

In 2015 Romania expanded its NATO role by deploying additional troops to Afghanistan. Romanian troops operate U.S. made Oshkosh M-ATV MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected).

Photo by Sergeant William Tanner, 18APR2015.

TR-85, Smardan Training Area, Romania, April 2015.

Video, PMA T-55 bridge layer in action, 2015:

Romanian Armed Forces video of bridge tank operation: https://fb.watch/3bZYmB3S-C/

USA photo by Sergeant William Tanner, 18APR2015.

MLI-84Ms drive around a German made Gepard (Cheetah) anti-aircraft tank, April 2015.

USA photo by Sergeant William Tanner, 18APR2015.

TABC-79/ABC-79M on Smardan Training Area, Romania. USA photo by Sergeant William Tanner, 18APR2015.

Once called the TABC-79, the Scout/Recon vehicles are now called ABC-79M.

DMT-85M1. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Melanye Martinez, 07DEC2015.

A DMT-85M1 engineer vehicle, based on the TR-85M1, December 2015.

(Click/tap here to see my alma matter Idaho/Montana/Oregon National Guard’s M1A2 SEP live fire in Romania, from 2016)

T-55. USMC photo by Sergeant Kirstin Spanu, 28SEP2016.

From September 2016, a T-55AM (aka TR-77-580).

USA photo by Sergeant Timothy Villareal, 15JUL2017.

Romanian BMP ambulance conversion, July 2017.

Video by Staff Sergeant Michael Zahnow, how to cross a Romanian river (the Danube):

TAB-71/BTR-60. USA photo by Specialist Emily Houdershieldt, 19JUL2017.

BTR-60 (TAB-71) just outside Ramnicu Valcea, July 2017.

Video, BTR-70 (aka TAB-77) from 2017 maneuvers:

Video, by Specialist Jacob Banuelos, TR-85 live fire, Smardan Training Area in December 2017:

USA photo by Sergeant Jeremiah Woods, 30MAY2019.

TAB-77 (BTR-70), May 2019.

USA photo by Staff Sergeant True Thao, 20JUN2019.

Piranha-3 crosses the Danube river during Saber Guardian 2019.

Video, by Specialist Drake Chandler, of NATO Saber Guardian 2019 wargames, Romanian Swiss made Piranha cross a pontoon bridge:

Saber Guardian 2019 music video, by Michigan National Guard Specialist Brian Pearson and Romanian Captain Mariana Dinu:

More live fire video, Saber Guardian 2019, TR-85 and T-55 (TR-77-580):

Photo by Sergeant H. Marcus McGill. Piranha joins a U.S. convoy to the Black Sea for Exercise Rapid Falcon, 19NOV2020.

More Romanian Armed Forces videos: www.facebook.com/Romanian.Armed.Forces/videos

Soviet era tanks in use by NATO: POLAND

NATO: MiG-21

World War Three, 2016: SNAKE RIVER Militia M1A2 SEP, LIVE FIRE ROMANIA!

MONTANA Militia ENJOYS BEING THE ‘BAD GUY’ IN ROMANIA!

Technology

Steel Skeletons of Soviet Afghanistan

Video May 12, 2020 Hutchins AAron

BRDM-2 somewhere near Kandahar International Airport. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Captain Charles G. Grow, 18JAN2002.

T-54B near Bagram Air Base, 29MAY2002. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Arlo K. Abrahamson.

T-55 Bagram Air Base, 03NOV2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Scott T. Sturkol.

Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Kevin Paul.

14JUL2007, plenty of T-62s in the Kandahar tank graveyard.

Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Kevin Paul.

Same time and place, but these are T-55s.

Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Kevin Paul.

BRDM in the tank graveyard, Kandahar, 14JUL2007.

Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Kevin Paul.

BMP-2s, Kandahar graveyard, 14JUL2007.

Camp Shaheen.

November 2010, a maintenance supervisor with Company D, 186th Brigade Support Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team cuts-up an old Soviet occupation armored vehicle in Durani Village, Parwan Province, Afghanistan. The villagers were able to sell the pieces of steel to recyclers for cash.

USMC video report on U.S. Army’s 832nd Engineer Company chopping up old tanks:

BTR-80, Panjshir Province, Afghanistan, January 2010.

Quick video, steel skeletons of Panjshir:

Photo by Staff Sergeant Teddy Wade, 02JAN2010.

Panjshir Province, BMP in between T-54 and T-62, January 2010.

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Ken Scar, 12OCT2011.

Tank graveyard, Combat Outpost Red Hill, Parwan Province, October 2012.

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Ken Scar.

BMP-1, Bamyan Province, Afghanistan, 06JUN2011.

T-54/55, Bamyan Province.

Nowzad, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, February 2011. Children line up for school while a relic (T-55) of the 1980s Soviet occupation rusts away in the background.

Derelict World War Two era Soviet T-34/85 in Muqer District, Ghazni Province, March 2012.

T-55 in Nowzad, Helmand Province, Afghanistan February 2012.

Remains of ZSU-23-4, Bala Hissar Fortress, August 2013. You can see where the anti-aircraft tank took a direct hit in the side.

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant First Class Kenneth Foss, 26AUG2013.

Bala Hissar Fortress, August 2013.

BMP-1s and a T-54/55 (without bore evacuator) in Bamyan Province, February 2013.

Soviet occupation era T-55 still in use. The U.S. Marine Corps observed Afghan government forces use it against rebel troops in Sangin District, Helmand Province, August 2018.

Vehicle I-D: ZOMBIE TANK T-55, THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!

Zombie ‘Copter: HOW THE HIND RETURNED TO AFGHANISTAN, AND WHY IT WON’T DIE

Technology

Vehicle I-D: Iraqi Armor, after the invasion

Video April 24, 2020 Hutchins AAron

On 13JUN2019, the Iraqi army unveiled a new tank; the al-Kafeel-1. Note that it uses an M2 .50 caliber machine gun in a remote controlled mount. Russian news sources say the tank is based on Iraq’s experience fighting Islamic extremists, and Iraq’s use of the M1A1M. It is strange that most ‘western’ news sources didn’t report about the Iraqi developed tank until more than a year after its unveiling. Speculative reports say it was developed with help from China.

Inside of BTR-80. 9th Iraqi Army Division Warrant Officer explains to U.S. troops how it works.
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Mary S. Katzenberger, 27SEP2010.

Ukrainian made BTR-94, 2018.

Ukrainian made BTR-94 blocks 14th of July bridge in Baghdad, 15AUG2004. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob N. Bailey.

Ukrainian made BTR-4, reports say Iraq was not happy with the BTR-4, claiming they were not ‘new builds’ and had corroded bodies (Ukrainian investigation links the defective BTR-4s to the now infamous corruption scandal plaguing the Office of the U.S. President).

BTR-4 variants, the BSEM-4K ambulance and BTR-4 armored personnel carriers with 30mm gun turrets.

‎U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Kalie Jones Frantz, 06FEB2016.

A mystery modified M113 seen at Camp Taji, February 2016. It’s not a ACV or YPR765. A homegrown modification?

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Kalie Jones Frantz, 06FEB2016.

U.S. Army photo by Specialist William Lockwood, 11FEB2016.

Camp Taji, February 2016.

M113 ACAV, U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Kalie Jones Frantz, 07FEB2016.

M113, U.S. Army photo by Sergeant David Strayer, 28APR2011.

M113, Kirkush Military Training Base, April 2011.

Notice the use of wide ‘snow’ tracks. Texas Army National Guard photo by Specialist Maria Mengrone, 12MAY2005.

MTLB, May 2005.

Texas Army National Guard photo by Specialist Maria Mengrone, 06MAY2005.

This one has the standard width tracks. Texas Army National Guard photo by Specialist Maria Mengrone, 06MAY2005.

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Sean Hanson.

March 2007. This tank is a Chinese Type 69 (Iraqi designation for Chinese Type 69 is T-55B), as denoted by the headlights on both fenders and the camera/laser sighting system on the mantlet.

Texas Army National Guard photo by Specialist Maria Mengrone, 12MAY2005.

May 2005, Type 69/T-55B.

Notice the U.S. antenna. Texas Army National Guard photo by Specialist Maria Mengrone, 12MAY2005.

BMP-1, October 2005:

Rebuilt BMP-1s on Camp Taji, 07OCT2005.

BMP-1, January 2007:

BMP-1, Camp Taji. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Jon Cupp, 17JAN2007.

Video Camp Taji boneyard, T-72 turret lift, 2009:

T-62, March 2010:

T-62s in the ‘Bone Yard’. Tennessee Army National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Desiree Pavlick, 17MAR2010.

Graveyard of T-62 and T-72, October 2005:

Camp Taji ‘boneyard’, 10JUL2005.

T-72, Camp Butler/Butler Gunnery Range, February 2006:

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Brent Hunt, 16FEB2006.

Low quality video from February 2006, supposedly it was the first time Iraqis were able to fire their T-72s since the U.S. invasion:

T-72, Forward Operating Base Hammer, October 2008:

U.S. Army photo by Private First Class Evan Loyd, 31OCT2008.

2008 Besmaya Range gunnery video (by U.S. Army Specialist Neil A. Stanfield):

T-72, Besmaya Range Complex, April 2010:

U.S. Army photo by Private First Class Jared Eastman, 14APR2010.

Checking out a ‘newer’ T-72, apparently donated by NATO-Czech Republic, April 2016:

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Paul Sale, 05APR2016.

Iraqis began training on U.S. M1A1 Abrams in 2008-09:

Besmaya Range Complex, 31MAR2009. U.S. Army photo by Captain Thomas Avilucea.

According to a U.S. Defense Department news release, between August 2010 and the end of 2011, 140 M1A1M Abrams tanks were delivered to Iraq as part of a 2008 military sales agreement.

According to the the U.S. Army, these were the last of the 140 Abrams delivered to Iraq:

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Edward Daileg, 29AUG2011.

In 2016, BMP-1s were positioned for the Mosul Offensive against so-called Islamic State:

U.S. Army photo, 18OCT2016.

In February 2018, it was revealed that an Iraqi militia unit funded by Iran acquired nine of the M1A1Ms.

Blurry image showing Iranian funded Iraqi militia hauling an M1A1.

In June 2018, Iraq announced it was trading the M1A1M for the Russian T-90S.

The first T-90S and T-90SK were delivered by November 2019.

M109A1, Firebase Saham, December 2018.

U.S. Army photo by Captain Jason Welch, 03DEC2018.

For some strange reason the official U.S. Army information that accompanied the pic states this is a “M109 Paladin”, but it is clearly not an M109A6 Paladin (which is a radical upgrade of the M109 series), it is a M109A1.

In 2008, U.S. Army officials decided to allow Iraq to refurbish several M109A1s abandoned in the ‘boneyard’ of Camp Taji: “Last fall, our brigade commander was given guidance by the 9th IA commander to pull out of the Taji boneyard roughly a battalion’s worth of M109A1 howitzers.”-Major Matthew DeLoia, Military Transition Team-Pennsylvania National Guard’s 109th Field Artillery Regiment, July 2009

VEHICLE I-D: UKRAINIAN ARMOR

VEHICLE I-D: GEORGIAN T-72 & BMP

Kit Bashing, Technology

Vehicle I-D: Cold War Zombie tank T-55, they’re everywhere!

Video August 20, 2019 Hutchins AAron

I calls it a zombie tank because it’s six decades old and refuses to die.

People’s Republic of China, 2021:

CHINA’S TYPE 59D, UPDATED COLD WAR T-54/55, TO LIVE-ON AS A ROBOT TANK?

CHINA STILL USES THE NATO GUNNED TYPE 88 WARSAW PACT BASED T-54/55 TANK

Lost your hull? No problem, mount your turret on a truck trailer:

Syria 2012 to present:

Date and location unknown, possibly inside Syria, a T-55 somehow ended up on its turret!

Government T-55s.

Insurgent T-55.

With a mine-roller.

Iraq 2020: They still like those Chinese Type 69s. See more in Iraqi Armor after the Invasion.

Romanian T-55s taking part in NATOs Saber Guardian, June 2019:

U.S. Navy photo by Lieutenant Alex Cornell du Houx, 13JUN2019.

Video August 2018, Afghan government T-55 Boom Stick in action in Sangin District, while U.S. Marines watch:

Kurdish Peshmerga T-55, Iraq, May 2016:

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sergio Rangel, 29MAY2016.

Click here to watch extremist insurgents execute captured Syrian soldier with a T-55 tank!

Romanian T-55s, April 2016:

African Union T-55AMV, 2015:

African Union female T-55 crew:

Bamyan, Afghanistan, 2012:

An old T-54.

See more in Steel Skeletons of Soviet Afghanistan.

Daymirdad, Afghanistan, 2011:

T-55, U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Sean Casey, 09JAN2011.

Iraq 2010: U.S. BRINGS DEAD IRAQI T-55 BACK TO LIFE!

Iraqi T-54/55 ARV, Salman Pak, November 2008:

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Chase Kincaid, 15NOV2008.

T-55 Salman Pak, Iraq, November 2008:

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Chase Kincaid, 15NOV2008.

Al Ja’ara village, Iraq, January 2008:

U.S. Defense Department photo, 14JAN2008.

Iraq 2003:

Chinese Type 69 (‘upgraded’ T-55). USN/USMC photo.

See more in Iraq 2003 Battle Damage.

Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, 2002:

Ventilator on turret top and small hole for bow machine gun on front slope indicates this was a T-54. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Arlo K. Abrahamson, 29MAY2002.

Cambodia:

Iraqi Chinese made T-55 assaults Iranian infantry line during Iran-Iraq War:

Vietnam, T-54:

Supposedly upgraded Nicaraguan T-55:

Bosnia & Herzegovina 1996-98:

Croat (HVO) T-55 crew fires-off their 12.7mm gun, on the Barbara Range in Glamoc, Bosnia and Herzegovina. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sergeant Kim Price, October 1998.

A U.S. Army First Lieutenant tries to keep flames from spreading. This Serbian T-55 was deliberately blown-up with C-4 plastic explosive by the U.S. Army, on Camp Dobol, Bosnia-Herzegovina. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

T-55 ‘upgraded’ with vulcanized rubber armor, Broko area of Bosnia-Herzegovina. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sergeant Jon E. Long, January 1996.

Iraq 1991:

What’s left of an Iraqi Type 69, a Chinese ‘upgrade’ of the T-55. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, March 1991.

Smoldering Iraqi T-55 on the border with Kuwait. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Joel Torres, 28FEB1991.

CzechoSlovakia 1989:

Just a few years before the end of the unofficial Cold War, Czechoslovakia upgraded their T-55s with ‘Western-NATO’ targeting systems.

CzechoSlovak T-54, date and photographer unknown.

Egypt 1985:

Notice the ‘Western’ style square search light. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Captain Mark Beberwyck, August 1985.

U.S.A. 1987:

Captured T-54/55, Foreign Materiel Intelligence Group Training Detachment, Fort Irwin, California. U.S. Army photo by Donna Fulghum, 10MAR1987.

Peru 1983:

Factory fresh/parade ready T-54 (indicated by the bow machine gun hole in the front slope), 1983(?).

U.S.A. 1984:

Photo taken by ‘yours truly’, while on a California Army National Guard drill weekend on Fort Irwin, National Training Center, California. You can see the hole in the front slope of the hull for the bow machine gun, which is typical of the T-54. Early T-54s also had a ventilator on the turret top.

T-54 (it has a ventilator on top of the turret) captured by Israel then turned over to the United States, notice the U.S. military antenna mast mounted on top of the turret. Photo dated November 1984.

Israel 1974:

Photo dated May 1974, location unknown, however it appears to be captured T-55s put to use by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Being cannibalized for parts.

Egypt 1974:

Egyptian T-55 destroyed by Israel, 1974. Notice somebody marked the penetration hole in the turret.

Iraq, November 1963:

Iraqi T-54 during coup led by pro-Egyptian (Nasserists) against the Ba’ath Party, November 1963.

Germany 1961:

U.S. Embassy photo. The then brand new T-54/55 is deployed in response to the U.S. deploying its then brand new M48A1, which were deployed in response to older T-34-85s being deployed in what became the Berlin Crisis which led to the creation of the Berlin Wall.

See (photos & film), and read, more in BERLIN KRISE, ‘GAME OF CHICKEN’ M48A1 VS. T-54/55!